Tales of the Outlaws
by Clarke18
Summary: The story of a smuggler named Gideon as he travels the galaxy as he eventually crosses Shepard based in mass effect 2.


**For People who read any of my stories I usually write stories based in the Universe but not involving main cast of characters (Tali, Garrus, Legion etc.) All my stories tend to happen Tangentially to the main plot mostly involving made up or lesser known characters. This is also an experiment to see what people think of it.**

Gideon sat at the bar focusing on his drink that sat in front of him, examining the pale green liquid that was served by the Salarian bartender with general disinterest . He took a sip savouring the taste as it slipped down his throat.

Gideon was a man in his mid forties but with advancements in medical science most men and women looked like they were in their twenties until about fifty, he was solidly built standing six feet tall and his frame was well muscled. His hair was long and dark brown highlighted with a few silver strands the only sign of his apparent age which he tied back into a ponytail that hung below his shoulders keeping it out of his bright green eyes. He was dressed in basic clothing a black short sleeved shirt, light blue pants and basic black shoes. Along with that Gideon had a pistol strapped to his side in plain view for everyone to see, a deterrent for most but a challenge for some.

He observed the scene around him, he was in a small dive in some dark corner of the station Omega situated in an mined out asteroid and the center of the majority of the crime in the Terminus systems. It was run by the de facto leader Aria T'Loak but among her the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack made their mark on this little slice of hell. There was no law on Omega other than the obvious one "Don't **** with Aria" and everyone knew why, ever since she took over the station centuries ago from the previous warlord that ruled Omega everyone knew not to trifle with the Asari, the Krogan was still around but now goes by the name of Patriarch who serves as Aria's advisor but mostly as a reminder to everyone of her power.

Omega was far from peaceful, one could get away with murder as long as you didn't disturb the power balance and didn't cross the Mercs or Aria and Gideon had no interest in doing so and he usually didn't but his profession usually called on him to step on a few toes.

He was a smuggler loyal only to his next paycheck, working the Terminus be it weapons or people he could get them from one side of the galaxy to the other without drawing attention but even with his skill he never smuggled slaves. His name was not well known and that was the point if everyone knew who he was he wouldn't be much of a smuggler. He had enough contacts with information brokers and other underworld types that directed enough work his way that he was able to carve out a descent living. In the end life was good he had drink, friends and women.

Gideon's attention was drawn to the footsteps approaching behind him he turned around and saw a friend approaching. His name was Taron and he was a Batarian who served as his co-pilot on his ship the Morning Star despite the animosity between Humans and Batarians he got along just fine with Taron could be a little bit impatient at some points but they had a good professional relationship, they were both great at what they did and their financial situation reflected it.

He sat down beside him and said." Good news I got us a new job." He said signalling the bartender for a drink.

Gideon took a sip of his drink. "Oh did you now." He said with a sly smile. "Who and what?"

"Blue suns need some weapons shipped to the Citadel in a week, low risk fairly descent pay you've been talking about heading that way anyway so I saw this as bit of an opportunity for some easy cash." He said with an air of smug self satisfaction at his accomplishment as he took a sip of his drink.

Gideon dismissed the attitude, it was hard to tell age with different species sometimes but one could usually tell by the usual air of age around a person. With that you could tell that Gideon had a good twenty years on the eager Batarian.

Gideon met Taron about a year ago on this station he was a young talented pilot looking for work on a ship. While on a fairly routine run to Illium (not that there was such a thing as routine when you were a smuggler but still), they were intercepted by Blood Pack trying to seize their cargo a couple of vigilantes that made some very pricey raids against them. They paid a pretty penny to get them to Illium to make contact with some Asari Information Broker so they could disappear. The Mercs got the drop on them but with some fast words and expert manoeuvring on Tarons part they were able to escape with their cargo without so much as a scratch on the Mourning Star's paint job.

With skill came arrogance, that coupled with Naivety of the universe he was liable to get himself killed. So for the most part Gideon took it upon himself to watch the Batarians back, he had quite a mouth on him which nearly got his head smashed in by angry Krogan on multiple occasions. For some reason though he seemed fine with it Gideon never had children but he saw Taron and the others of his crew as extended family.

"Our purses are getting a little light, I think it's time for another job. I'll call in a favor and we can get in without drawing any attention." Gideon said nodding at the Batarian beside him. " After that we can pick up our next client, some Salarian needs a discreet pick up and drop off."

Finishing his drink Taron got up and said. "Sounds good, I'll head back and prep the crew you know how Kelsey and Nel like an advance warning on everything." He got up and stood still for a moment before leaning in and whispering. "You got a few friends coming to see you. Do you want me to take care of them for you?"

Gideon shrugged. " Naw you head back I can deal with them." He said quietly to Taron who nodded and strode out the bar.

He turned around drink in hand to face the three men in front of him. They were all men to put use the term loosely. they couldn't be much more than twenty not by their appearance but by how they carried themselves brash, arrogant and naive the type that would go for a bounty on him without doing their homework first. This was apparent because they were in no way prepared for what would happen within the next two minutes.

Gideon stood up bringing himself to full height a good two inches taller than the leader and casually said. "Can I help you boys?"

"Blood Packs got a nice bounty on your head hundred-thousand, so we thought we would take it upon ourselves to claim it." Said the one in the center, the leader. The other two on his right and left hand side nodding like one of those old earth souvenirs with the oversized heads.

Gideon sat back down, turned his back to them and said coldly. "It's going to take a much bigger man to bring me down boy."

The unmistakable sound of a pistol being un-holstered and then a step forward as the merc leaned towards him and said. "I think we can take some old smuggler who doesn't seem to know his place."

Gideon downed the rest of his drink, putting the glass down he casually reached over for the bottle. He gripped the neck of it and with one swift motion whipped around and cracked the bottle against the side of the leaders head embedding shards of broken glass in his face and then he fell over. The second didn't have enough time to react before Gideon jumped up and his fist made contact with the mercs face, his nose gave way with an audible crunch and then him falling on his back hands fumbling trying to stop the blood gushing from his nose. The third one had enough time to draw his pistol but not enough time to aim, letting off a shot that missed Gideon's head by a good six inches. Grabbing his wrist with his right hand he slapped the gun out of the goons hand and then brought down his left elbow down on his collarbone breaking it, he screamed in pain as he fell to the floor.

Gideon walked over to the leader who was trying to get back to his feet one hand clutching the bloody mess of his face and put his foot on his back pinning him and preventing him from getting up. The merc grunted feebly trying to get up but to no avail.

"You and your friends should really take up a new line of work." Gideon said un-holstering his pistol and placing it at the side of his head, he froze an expression of terror on his bloody face. "anybody else wouldn't hesitate to blow your brains out all over the floor especially on Omega." He let his foot off the boys back holstering his pistol.

Turning to the wide-eyed bartender he said. "Sorry for the mess." Gideon dug through his pockets for a credit chit and left it on the bar in front of him before turning around and walking out of the bar.


End file.
